Chapter 93: Volume 2, Chapter 35 – I Am Confused

The sound of Alesia’s fist against my palm was thunder. It echoed across the entirety of the battlefield, far louder than anything that had come before. If I was being generous, I’d say that her strike had broken more than a couple bones.

But right now, it was time to be realistic. Her knuckles rested in the gory embrace of my bloody pulp of a hand. The fact that I even managed to stop her attack despite the initial brunt of it ruining my hand to this degree was nothing short of a miracle.

“Release me.” Alesia did not raise her voice, but it reverberated through the air. It did not echo. It rang. Loud and clear like the melodious sound of a bell, it carried far and wide with a single note that caused the hearts of all those who heard it to shiver. 

I stared into her eyes, twin blood red pools of unfathomable depth. That was the only difference that she bore in comparison to Kusanagi Momoka, the supposedly fictional woman who Alesia perfectly resembled.

Alesia’s long pink hair and straight bangs flowed just as beautifully as Momoka’s, and her large doe-like eyes coupled with her elegantly sculpted facial features were sickeningly cute. It was like someone had taken a handful of random attractive qualities and mashed them all into one creature. The perfect otome game protagonist.

Hell, she even had the star-shaped pupils thrown in there. Personally, I thought that her current crimson irises looked a lot better than the sky blue that they’d given her in the game, but now probably wasn’t the best time to indulge in such things.

Instead, I mended my hand with [Devouring Healing] before addressing Alesia, keeping my grip tight around her fist.

“Are you stupid or something?”

“...What?”

“Why the hell would I release you when you just tried to kill one of my friends?” I scoffed, raising my free hand to her forehead and giving her a hard flick. “I mean, seriously. You can’t be walking around with a face like that while spouting stupid lines.”

“O-Ouch!” Alesia raised her free hand to her forehead, rubbing the small red mark that had begun to form. “Who are you to criticize my appearance when you’re looking like that!?”

I’ll admit that I wasn’t exactly the hottest girl around, but never in my life did I expect my appearance to be judged by someone who was literally stealing someone else’s face, and a fictional character at that.

Before I could utter a retort though, I felt a presence approach me from behind. In my peripheral vision, I saw the pained look on Antenora’s face, her elegant features arranged in the perfect picture of sorrow and longing.

Her slender fingers clutched her chest, wrinkling the blue-gray fabric of her combat uniform. It didn’t take a genius to guess that Alesia was someone Antenora had met in her previous life, but Alesia certainly must’ve been precious to her if Antenora was making this kind of face.

“Do you truly not recognize me, Alesia...? Even though my appearance has changed, my heart... has always remained the same.”

The hell!? What kind of unreasonable bullshit is that, Antenora!? And here I was ready to be on your side!

At Antenora’s statement, Alesia’s eyes grew wide. I could feel the tension in her body draining by the second. In fact, her fist no longer held the weight that it once did, and in a flash of inspiration, I understood the reason why.

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The weight of her strikes had come not from the force that they imparted, but the intent behind them. The remnants of death that they carried in their wake, and the burden of regret laced behind her strikes. They were all simply her way of crying out even as she fought.

Yes. In the end, what Alesia sought was release. What she sought was the end whereas I fought to open up a path toward that bright future I finally realized was possible. That was the only reason why I was even able to match a monster like her.

But what was the release that she sought? Forgiveness for past misdeeds? Absolution from someone she’d wronged? Or did she simply seek to close off whatever threads of regret she had left behind in the past?

I didn’t know. I had no way of knowing. However, what I did know is that at this very moment, I was seriously confused.

There before me stood Alesia. Just a few moments ago, she had been giving me the hardest fight of my life, but now she looked just like any other maiden. Well, any other maiden with the face of an otome game protagonist, that is.

“Is it... really you? Izmael?”

Oh, holy shit. Don’t tell me this bitch really did remember Antenora just like that! C’mon, you can’t be that cliche when you’re also someone who got isekai’d, right!?

Antenora nodded wordlessly, a melancholic smile spreading across her rosy lips. The two stepped toward one another, seemingly oblivious of my presence.

In an instant, Antenora’s sorrow melted away like snow in the sunshine, and her gaze held an emotion so tender that I never would have thought possible for someone who was as frosty as she was on any other given day.

Similarly, the woman who she called Alesia was equally touched, the look in her eyes not unlike that of a maiden in love. The fact that she wore Kusanagi Momoka’s face made it more than a little jarring, but I couldn’t deny the depth of her emotions.

The two of them took another step toward another. Hesitantly, as if they were afraid that getting any closer would cause the other to disappear into the air, like nothing more than scattered fragments of memories. Remnants of a better time now lost to the present.

I was struck with the feeling that I shouldn’t be here.

I noticed that I was still holding on to Alesia’s fist, so I promptly released it and quickly took my leave before the whole thing got any more awkward. Honestly, it felt like I was intruding in their own little world, and the tension born from our battle had all but dissipated already.

It was the worst feeling, really. I thought I’d finally met someone who could really give me a run for my money, and I was more than down to duke it out. Instead, what I got was a bundle of confusion. I suppose I should be glad that there was no need to fight any more today, but...

...Really, I’m just confused. Who the hell is Alesia supposed to be, anyway?

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